Nine missing as sub collides with fishing boat

The USS Greeneville was on routine patrol south of Oahu when it surfaced about 1:45 p.m. and its stern collided with the fishing boat, said Lt. Cmdr. Jane Campbell, spokeswoman for Commander Navy Base, Pearl Harbor.

The boat carried 35 people, including 20 crew members, two teachers and 13 students from the Uwajima Fisheries High School in the southwestern Japanese state of Ehime. Of the missing, four were students, two teachers and three crew members, said Ehime official Soji Fujita.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Chris Johnson said it sank quickly. The survivors were rescued by a 41-foot Coast Guard utility boat and a smaller Coast Guard rubber inflatable, he said.

The survivors were taken to the Coast Guard station at Honolulu Harbor's Sand Island. Some walked off on their own; others were carried on stretchers and covered in blankets.

Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Greg Fondan said none appeared to be seriously injured. A wounded shoulder appeared to be the worst injury, he said.

Twelve survivors were taken to local hospitals for treatment of minor injuries while 14 were cared for at the Coast Guard base, including showers to wash off diesel fuel, he said.

Petty Officer Thomas Kron, who was on the Coast Guard patrol boat, said the survivors were wet and soaked with diesel fuel that spilled when the boat sank.

"They seemed like they were in shock. They were fatigued by the time we got there. Some of them were seasick and some of them were glad to see us," he said.

The seas were three to four feet and choppy with a six-foot swell. The water was covered by a sheen of diesel fuel and was full of debris from the sunken vessel, he said.

The Greeneville was not damaged, Navy spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Cate Mueller, said in Washington.

How many crew were aboard the Greeneville, a Pearl Harbor-based nuclear-powered attack submarine, was not immediately known.

The sub was remaining on scene to help in the search for survivors, Campbell said.

"It's important to say the Navy regrets this unfortunate incident," said Cmdr. Bruce Cole, a spokesman for the Pacific Fleet. "We're very concerned about the families and friends of those for whom we search."

It is not known why the submarine surfaced under the vessel, he said, promising a full investigation.

"It would not have surfaced if it had seen the boat," Cole said.

In Washington, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said President Bush was told about the incident.

The Coast Guard identified the boat as the Ehime Maru, a 180-foot boat. The 499-ton vessel left Japan on Jan. 10 to hunt for tuna, swordfish and shark.

Japanese officials anxiously awaited word on the fate of the children.

"It's a bit chaotic right now," said Masanori Mori, a municipal official in Uwajima, Ehime state. "There's a great deal of shock."

The Greeneville was commissioned in February 1996. The Los Angeles-class sub is 360 feet long, has a diameter of 33 feet and displaces 6,900 tons. It is equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles.

The crash is the second major mishap involving a Navy vessel near Hawaii in seven months. In July, the USS Denver, a 570-foot amphibious transport dock ship, was preparing to receive fuel from the USNS Yukon, a Military Sealift Command oiler, about 180 miles west of Oahu when the two vessels collided.

No one was injured, but the 677-foot Yukon sustained heavy damage to its right side and the Denver had a 25-foot-deep gash in its bow.

A Navy investigation reportedly found the captain and first officer of the Denver should have realized they were on course to hit the Yukon.<